A TOURIST has expressed alarm after finding racist graffiti while staying at a bothy in the Highlands.
Samuel Abdilla, a tourist from Australia, also shared his shock more generally over the amount of “blatant, vile racism” he witnessed during his visit to Scotland.
Writing in the Mountain Bothies Association Facebook page, he attached an image of racist graffiti including Nazi symbols and “KKK” which he found at a bothy .
The disgusting graffiti, which the Press and Journal first reported on, also said: “If you’re black, sleep outside with the other animals, you are not welcome in Scotland.”
“Was pretty shocked to come from overseas to Scotland and see the amount of blatant, vile racism that was around the place,” Abdilla shared (below).
“An example was this graffiti in Suileag Bothy. We did our best to scratch it off and tried to make a little better and welcoming!
“Despite this we did have a wonderful stay in a beautiful location underneath Mount Suilven.”
Simon Birch, chairman of the Mountain Bothies Association, said in response: “I was very shocked to see this graffiti in one of the bothies maintained by the MBA.
“This is very unusual – indeed it’s the first time that I’ve heard of such disgraceful graffiti in any bothy.
“The MBA totally opposes any form of racism or discrimination. We will take action to erase the graffiti.”
Members of the public also shared their outrage, with one saying: “Disgraceful. There is no place for those sentiments, they do not represent the views of the vast majority of Scots, and others who use Bothies.”
Another added: “That’s horrific. I’ve never seen any racial slurs in the bothies I’ve visited so far thankfully. Thank you for removing it. There’s no place for this and I hope this doesn’t deter you from future visits.”
